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At the start of spring, the mood in large parts of the German wood industry has deteriorated noticeably.<\/p>\n
According to the Main Association of the German Woodworking Industries (HDH) economic indicator determined by the Munich-based ifo Institute, things went downhill noticeably against the background of cautious expectations. The German companies rated their current business situation slightly more positively in March than in the previous month. However, pessimism increased significantly with a view to the coming months. High raw material prices, reduced purchasing power and rising construction interest burden the sector's economy.<\/p>\n
Overall, the HDH economic indicator fell to -16.6 points in March 2023 (previous month: -11.9 points). The decisive factor was the subdued assessment of the prospects for the coming six months, for which the value fell by 8.5 points to -40.7 points (previous month: -32.2 points).<\/p>\n
In view of the different impacts on the individual segments, the mood in the German timber industry remained mixed. The companies in the construction-related area of \u200b\u200bthe wood industry (+34.3 points), in the wood-based materials industry (+25.8 points) and in prefabricated wood construction (+15.7 points) assessed their current business situation as positive. However, expectations in all segments indicated negative developments in the coming months.<\/p>\n
In particular, the wood packaging industry (-64.9 points), prefabricated timber construction (-57.1 points) and the sawmill industry (-56 points) have recently looked to the future with concern: These segments expect the business situation to deteriorate significantly in the next six months.<\/p>\n
Germany's timber industry recorded some significant declines in sales at the beginning of the year.\u00a0<\/span>In January 2023, sales in the sawmill industry fell by 12.6% compared to the corresponding month of the previous year.\u00a0<\/span>A decline of 7.8% was registered for wood-based materials compared to January 2022, with a minus of 10.4% in foreign business and a decrease in sales of 7.8% in domestic business.\u00a0<\/span>The German Federal Statistical Office registered an opposite development in the wood-related area of \u200b\u200bthe construction industry. <\/span>Here, sales abroad fell by 38%, while on the other hand domestic sales increased by 11%.\u00a0<\/span>In total, this resulted in sales growth of 4.2% compared to January 2022.<\/span><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" At the start of spring, the mood in large parts of the German wood industry has deteriorated noticeably. According to the Main Association of the German Woodworking Industries (HDH) economic indicator determined by the Munich-based ifo Institute, things went downhill … Continue reading